'Rabbi' Chen to fight extradition from Brazil
Attorney for self-proclaimed 'rabbi' charged with horrific abuse of three and four-year-old siblings says client will contest Israeli extradition order
'The Rabbi' Elior Chen, who is accused of being responsible for the abuse of two young boys in Jerusalem, announced on Thursday that he would not turn himself over to Israeli authorities.
Chen was arrested in the streets of Sao Paulo by Brazilian police, ending the extensive manhunt that spanned several weeks.
His lawyer, Ariel Atari, traveled to Brazil for a week-long visit to confer with Chen. Atari confirmed his client has retained a team of local attorneys to combat his extradition.
Chen initially said he turned himself in to the Brazilian police, and he hopes this curries favor with public opinion. However the police have presented a different version of the events, saying agents had tracked Chen down in a complex operation.
Israel has a mutual extradition pact with Brazil.
Chen has been identified as the leader of a group of religious parents some have called a cult, to which he provided the "spiritual inspiration" that led his followers to torture their children.
Among Chen's victims are a three-year old toddler and his four-year-old brother, and police investigators believe it was Chen who ordered their mother to inflict severe emotional, mental and physical harm on the children - which rendered the toddler in a permanent vegetative state.
A grave indictment was filed against the children's mother, who was arrested after her sons were hospitalized. It included multiple counts of aggravated assault, child abuse and the endangerment of minors. She has repeatedly claimed she was acting on Chen's instructions.
